The story of how Australia’s universities became so dependent on overseas students is no secret. This dependence reflects decisions by successive Coalition and Labor governments to cut back on university funding over the past two decades. This report shows that the share of the universities’...

This review report aims to provide options on alternative methodologies to allocate a funding pool to schools based on student numbers, as part of the broader School Resourcing Model allocation.

The ability to plan and execute revenue diversification effectively is a critical tool for Australian universities. This report map the drivers that create the requirement for a systematic approach to revenue diversification. These range from universities’ rising operational costs, the unlikelihood of increased government funding...

Australia has one of the highest proportions of students enrolled in non-government schools in the OECD. Over the last decade, fees at independent schools have risen by over 50% nationwide - far outstripping both inflation and wage growth, and creating an affordability crisis for families...

This report is the output from an Academy of the Social Sciences Australia (ASSA)-funded workshop hosted by the Gonski Institute for Education at UNSW Sydney. The report provides advice to government and systems for redressing intergenerational policy failure, looking beyond the school gate, giving voice...

Tertiary education students have three main sources of financial support ­– their families, the labour market and government payments. This paper explores how COVID-19 affected these sources of student finance.

This report analyses the current worrying state of Australia’s higher education sector based on current funding and policy trends, and provides an ambitious national vision for higher education that re-aligns the sector with its public service mission.

This policy statement outlines The Greens' policy position on education in Australia.

This paper argues that Australia could immediately expand opportunities for university education at zero cost to the taxpayer simply by limiting Commonwealth support to one degree per course and one course per student. This ‘1/1 policy’ would fund more students to obtain one undergraduate degree...

This working paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the implementation of the Gonski funding model by the Labor Government in 2013. It analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the model.

This paper provides a snapshot benchmark as to the financial health of Australian universities at the end of 2020. This will enable greater insight to be gained into the on-going effectiveness of university strategies to deal with the impact of the pandemic when future annual...

This research brief reviews the statement in support of the Nobel Prize for Economics for 2021 by the Prize Committee. The statement highlights the extensive empirical evidence that increased expenditure on education can improve test scores and future earnings, especially for disadvantaged students.

Quality Related (QR) funding from Research England provides an important source of support for research in English universities. This report identifies and explores the ways in which QR funding is used, its benefits, and how it complements other types of research income.

Eighteen months after Australia's borders were first closed, things are getting worse for universities, not better. This research confirms that tertiary education has been hit by bigger job losses this year than any other non-agricultural sector in the economy.

Pandemics, border closures and government reforms of student funding arrangements have resulted in the Australian higher education sector facing some of its greatest challenges. This report is part of a series examining investment in different parts of Australia’s education system, and examines investment over at...

This voluntary code provides government and society information on appropriate, transparent and competitive remuneration of Vice‐Chancellors and senior university staff.

This report looks at comparative statistics the OECD has collected across a number of education systems to track developments in the higher education sector throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study suggests that on its current trajectory, China is set to overtake the United States to become the world’s biggest spender on research and development, and the UK’s most significant research partner - raising pressing questions for policymakers at a time of rising geopolitical...

This report takes a closer look at the evidence on New Zealand students’ educational achievement and examines whether a lack of funding may be playing a role in declining education performance.

This paper examines some of the budgetary issues facing the scientific research enterprise in the United States. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the key issues facing university budgets and research enablement and support services they fund, to determine whether...

The Australian unified national system for higher education was established in 1988 for a range of reasons, but its essence was a solution to resolve a funding problem. This publication provides a detailed analysis of the current problems and issues, and examines opportunities to move...

This paper provides new estimates of the over-funding of private schools provided by the Morrison Government. They are based on data published last year by Senate Estimates. The paper also provides new estimates of the under-funding of public schools.

This report explores the current decline in international students in Australia following COVID-19 restrictions, and models potential further falls that could occur if Australia's borders remain closed.

Throughout this submission, Universities Australia encourages the federal government to recognise the central role of universities in the COVID-19 response and recovery.

The vocational education and training (VET) system will play a key role in supporting Australia’s recovery from the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19. However, the sector has faced a range of enduring challenges, and is not currently equipped to respond effectively to many of the questions...